Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Egypt: “At least 23 people were killed and nearly 200 were wounded in downtown Cairo on Sunday night as a march by Coptic Christians turned into the deadliest outbreak of violence in Egypt since the popular revolt that toppled the country’s autocratic leader in February.”
* Afghanistan: “Prisoners held at several Afghan-run detention centers endured ‘systemic’ torture, ranging from brutal beatings to electrical shock, as part of attempts to wrest confessions from them, according to a startling report from the United Nations released Monday.”
* Wall Street: “Stocks rose sharply on Monday, bolstered by a renewed pledge by France and Germany to come up with a plan by the end of the month to tackle the euro zone debt crisis and support the region’s banks.”
* Trade deals: “The House and Senate are poised to move with lightning speed this week to approve three trade deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama submitted just last week by President Obama. Wednesday votes are set in both the House and Senate.”
* Sad: “A conservative journalist has admitted to infiltrating the group of protesters who clashed with security at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum on Saturday — and he openly claims to have instigated the events that prompted the museum to close.”
* California’s Dream Act: “Illegal immigrants can now apply for state-financed scholarships and aid at state universities after Gov. Jerry Brown announced Saturday that he had signed the second half of a legislative package focused on such students.”
* Uncomfortable questions: “A decade after wisps of anthrax sent through the mail killed 5 people, sickened 17 others and terrorized the nation, biologists and chemists still disagree on whether federal investigators got the right man and whether the F.B.I.’s long inquiry brushed aside important clues.”
* I’m glad I never bothered to change my queue: “Abandoning a break-up plan it announced last month, Netflix said Monday morning that it had decided to keep its DVD-by-mail and online streaming services together under one name and one Web site.”
* And David Frum thinks Republicans are entirely wrong about practically every aspect of the economy, but he’s sticking with the party anyway.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
